535 



CHAPTER LXI. 



PET DOGS AND HAIRLESS DOGS. 



Plus qui je vois les hommes, plus faime les chiens. 



IN most of the Continental countries, as 

 in the United States, the httle dogs 

 of which in Great Britain we make pets 

 and drawing-room companions are commonly 

 kept, the active Fox-terrier, the silky-coated 

 Yorkshire, the fluffy Pomeranian, or Loulou, 

 the snowy - coated 

 Maltese, the impu- 

 dent Brussels Grif- 

 fon, and the many 

 varieties of Toy 

 Spaniels and minia- 

 ture terrrers — all 

 these and many 

 more of the smaller 

 breeds that are so 

 familiar to us are 

 treasured as com- 

 panions in other 

 lands. But there are 

 some in addition 

 which are compara- 

 tively little known 

 in the British dog 

 shows, and which 

 have not been no- 

 ticed in the fore- 

 going pages. Then, too, there is the cur'ous 

 tribe of hairless dogs of which so little is 

 yet understood. It is necessary that these 

 should be mentioned. 



The Chihuahua. — The dog of Chihuahua 

 (pronounced Ch.cc-wa-wa) is, perhaps, the 

 smallest of the canine family. A full 

 grown specimen may be so minute as to 

 stand with all four feet upon a man's 

 hand. Some mature dogs have failed to 

 turn the scale at twenty-three ounces ; but 

 a larger specimen may weigh as much as finding it there, carried it not only to old 

 four pounds, which is a trifle over the weight Spain, but throughout all Spanish America, 

 of Mrs. Lilburn MacEwan's Chadro. In There are some persons who believe that 

 the British Museum some years ago there the Chihuahua was the original of the Belgian 

 was the stuffed skin of a bitch of this breed Papillon, but this is to confuse the smooth- 



CHIHUAHUA DOG CHADRO. 

 IMPORTED FROM MEXICO BY 

 R. RENTOUL SYMON, ESQ. 



very little, if anything, larger than a rat, 

 and, as if to prove her of mature growth, 

 beside her were her two pups, about as 

 big as mice. 



It is a native of Me.xico, where there are 

 other very small lap-dogs. But the Chi- 

 huahua is a breed 

 distinct in itself, and 

 is not to be con- 

 founded with the 

 tiny long-haired and 

 large -eared Mexican 

 " Poodle." A re- 

 markable fact in 

 connection with the 

 dog is that when 

 taken away from 

 Chihuahua, and bred 

 for a time in another 

 part of the world, or 

 even in any other 

 district of Mexico 

 the progeny increases 

 in bulk and becomes 

 as the natives say 

 " degenerado." Cap- 

 tain Mayne Reid 

 noticed this in the case of individuals met 

 with in the Mexican capital, where the 

 little creature is greatly prized as a pet. 

 He thought it possible that the climate 

 and soil had something to do with the 

 increase of size under expatriation from 

 the high table -lands of Chihuahua, and 

 certainly it seems to be impossible to main- 

 tain the small size for man}^ generations 

 in any other country than Chihuahua. 

 Presumably the Conquistadores of Mexico, 



